Canarsie Ends Dolphins' Playoff Run

The Beach Channel Dolphins surprised the entire city with their first two PSAL playoff wins over higher ranked Harry Van Arsdale and DeWitt Clinton.

They had also worn the Cinderella mantle with pride as the #46 team out of 51 entered the sweet 16 last Friday against #3 Canarsie at Lehman College.

The Cinderella slippers that the Dolphins had worn so proudly got trampled by a Canarsie team that erased any doubts early that they would fall by the wayside.

Canarsie won in a 68-39 rout in which the Dolphins only got as close as 9 points in the second quarter at 27-18. Beach Channel ends their season at 10-8.

The Chiefs were bigger and stronger on both ends of the floor. Beach Channel could not handle the Chiefs' full court-press, especially in the third quarter when they went on a 16-6 run to make it 47-24.

Nathaniel Lester Jr., the 6 foot 5 forward and leading scorer was one of three Chiefs to score in double figures with 14 points. Tola Lawal had 18 points and Ryan Sutton scored 10.

Head coach Jim Malone had prior knowledge of Canarsie when both teams scrimmaged in November. The Dolphins knew what Canarsie was going to do but they just couldn't stop the onslaught.

"We just couldn't make any stops," Malone said. "Our team was loose but we just didn't have any answers. They're big they're strong. We were a little overmanned."

"We were very successful (this year) with two players that haven't' played organized ball. We were glad to get into the playoffs. We got overmatched. We played against them before and we knew what they were going to do. But they just broke us down."

Beach Channel's Dwayne Messam scored 15 points in his final game in his four year varsity career. Davon Saxon was the only other player to reach double figures with 13 points.

For Messam, his career ends in similar fashion to when he started four years ago playing with college bound stars Rhashon Clark and Arthur Robertson. "We succeeded," Messam said. "It's been up and down. I started going to the sweet 16 and I ended in the sweet 16."